I really wanted one of the T-shirts (kind of like a concert T-shirt for the launch), but only managed to snag a baseball cap. And that was only because I managed to snatch it out of mid-air as it was on its way to someone else! There was a concert stage set up where apparently they had some kind of entertainment going on, but since that was on 44th Street, and we were on 45th Street, we couldn’t hear a thing. So I’m not sure exactly who the concert was for, since it was even around the corner from the first people in line. And I didn’t see Reggie, but a guy near me in line said he went inside earlier to check it out and just found Reggie hanging out, and went over to say hi and shake his hand. Jealous!

Naturally, you also had to deal with the curiosity seekers who asked you what you were waiting in line for. Though we all took a perverse kind of pleasure in telling them that we were waiting for Wiis. It just sounds so wrong when you speak it aloud! Early on, a guy came around and handed out little white plastic Wii wristbands (like the ubiquitous Lance Armstrong ones, but geekier) that he claimed guaranteed us a console. Presumably they only passed out as many bracelets as they had units. They came around later to check and make sure that everyone had bracelets, giving a little bit of a hard time to those who didn’t until their friends vouched for them and insisted they’d been standing in line the whole time.

Finally, a little before 12, the line began to move, but from then on, it was just short bursts of excited movement followed by lots more standing around. And I’d already packed up my chair at this point, so it really was just a lot of standing around. It took over an hour just to reach the corner, but since street blocks are shorter than avenue blocks, we moved pretty quickly up to the corner entrance. I think we got in around 1:30, and I discovered that it was basically a free for all. They ushered us down to the basement, and off to the side, I saw TRU employess standing around hawking games like street vendors. The hell? Security ushered us past the videogame section and over towards the remote control cars, where they had bins set up. A couple bins full of games, a bin for Nunchucks, a bin for Wiimotes, and a bin for overpriced SD cards. (I’m not falling for that one!) They also had carrying cases and organizers and that kind of crap, but I don’t think anyone was foolish enough to buy any of that. I grabbed Zelda, an extra Wiimote and Nunchuck, and got in line for the register. It wasn’t really the most organized way I would have thought to do it, but I guess having multiple areas helped break the crowd up and move it along faster. Oh, and I felt a little bad for the employees, who told me they weren’t getting overtime for this. Hopefully they at least got to keep their cool Wii sports shirts!

I hopped a cab home, because the subway at 1:30 in the morning is cranky at best, and they’re rerouting my line for construction. I was in a hurry! I got in just after 2 and immediately set to hooking it up. It was surprisingly easy, even with all the various parts to it, and there’s no configuration needed with the sensor bar. It just sort of works. Don’t ask me how. Mario Magic? I played a little Wii Sports, then took a break while my boyfriend created his Mii so we could play some boxing and tennis against each other. Then it was time for Zelda. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far before the whole experience caught up to me, and I finally conceded defeat around 4:30 in the morning. I knew it would still be waiting for me when I woke up.

All in all, I only had to stand around in the slightly chilly NYC weather for six and a half hours, which sounds worse than it actually felt. The whole thing was like a big block party, and we just had a blast, so the time just flew by! Wiiiiii!!!

—Wootini